Anico vs Ceramic Mags. How do you tell the diff.

[Runewalker]

Should be obvious.... but ... I have several hummers and singles of unknow origin. My bet is the singles esp. are ceramic. But what is a test to discern for sure?

I know this is pickup ? but the wiring guys have more testing equip than just their ears.

RW

[wesman]

www.projectguitar.com/tut/barmagswap.htm

[GuyaGuy]

ferrite (ceramic) magnets are made by mixing magnetic fragments into a kind of pottery clay which is then fired. they're not made of metal and so feel softer. they'll have a bit of the same feel as a rubbery fridge magnet--but obviously not quite as soft.

however, in my experience, the slug ceramic magnets used in single coil pickups are usually coated with something like chrome to give them a more metallic look. so, that rubbery feel will be more apparent on the humbucker magnets.

if you feel an alnico magnet, it will actually FEEL like metal. usually it has a rough feel due to the cross-hatch pattern that you see in the pix that wesman posted a link for.

that's all the info i can offer. maybe someone out there has a more scientific method for testing?

[jdtogo]

I little info you may like to know (web page) www.kinman.com/html/toneWorkshop/perfectGuitar.htm#magnets